We’ve spent over a decade covering Australia’s sex scene, but it’s hard not to steal a glance across the ditch at our cheeky cousins in New Zealand.
They’ve gone and done what Australia never quite managed… fully decriminalised sex work, made it safe, and turned it into a regulated industry worth hundreds of millions. The Kiwi scene is smaller, sure, but there’s a lot of adult entertainment to sink our teeth into – all fully legal!
Our NZ city guides provide a comprehensive overview of the best adult services for NSFW fun.
NEW ZEALAND CITY GUIDES 🇳🇿
AUCKLAND
SEX SCENE
9/10
Auckland has the most expansive adult industry in New Zealand, from high-end escort agencies to adult clubs, massage parlors, and legal brothels.
CHRISTCHURCH
SEX SCENE
6/10
More limited and conservative compared to Auckland and Wellington, CHCH’s adult industry was badly affected by the 2011 earthquake.
WELLINGTON
SEX SCENE
7/10
The capital city has a diverse nightlife with some sizzling high-end entertainment, although it’s seen a number of noticeable closures since Covid.
NEW ZEALAND LATEST POSTS 🇳🇿
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NEW ZEALAND SEX WORK LAWS
New Zealand took a revolutionary leap in 2003 by passing the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA), which decriminalized sex work nationwide.
This means activities that would land you in jail elsewhere – running a brothel, working as an escort, street solicitation – are all perfectly legal and regulated jobs here. It’s great news for sex workers and punters alike.
The PRA swept away old Victorian-era laws (which had forced brothels to masquerade as “massage parlours” pre-2003) and replaced them with a light-touch framework focused on health and safety.
Obviously, coercion of sex workers is still explicitly illegal, and everyone in the trade must be 18+.
But if we look at the bigger picture, New Zealand’s prostitution laws are considered a global gold standard of harm reduction and sex worker rights. Some Australian states have followed suit – but others (SA and WA) are still, sadly, trailing behind.
